Is The New Age Movement Another Form of Religion?

The following was written by Wes Annac for the ‘reader’s question’ section of The Aquarius Paradigm Weekly Newsletter, which is being offered for $11.11 a month (other subscription options can be found at the ‘Weekly Newsletter’ page).

Income from the newsletter helps my family and I get by, and every subscription is greatly needed and appreciated. The option to subscribe will be given at the bottom of this post.

In place of a question this week, I’d like to give my perspective on the idea that the ‘new age’ movement is similar to religion in that it’s yet another belief system that’s been fashioned around the philosophies of the people who advocate it.

Like others have said, this movement’s intended to help people understand the truths of their existence in a realer and purer way. A lot of religions were initially bent on doing the same thing before their teachings were corrupted and distorted, but the ‘new age’ movement is intended to correct those teachings.

This movement isn’t intended to put a certain individual, teacher, guru, etc. on a pedestal and have others hang on their every word, but instead, it’s intended to empower each individual to understand that they possess the real and pure truths within.

Even though some self-serving people in the ‘new age’ movement might want to put attention on themselves by professing to know all of the sacred truths, I don’t think their words or actions should speak for this movement as a whole.

Nor should the actions of well-meaning seekers who inadvertently preach or bring through ‘false’ or ‘distorted’ information. In my view, the point of this movement is to individually and collectively seek the truth for ourselves, and we should never hang on the perspective of any one person.

Those of you who are subscribed to this newsletter must appreciate my work and the things I say, otherwise you wouldn’t be subscribed. You wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t find some value in the spiritually oriented things I write, but I’m happy to admit that I don’t have the whole truth.

I’m not supposed to solely know the truth of our existence, and neither is any other seeker. We philosophically complete each otherby individually providing our unique pieces of the puzzle. I believe in and advocate things that some of you might not agree with, and I don’t intend for my perspective to be seen as the ‘right’ one.

Instead, I intend simply to offer it and let each of you take it as you will. This is very different from how most religions have functioned, because we’re told that we’re meant to follow the guidance of one person or a small group of people who profess to have a closer connection with Source than any of their followers will ever have.

I’ll admit that unfortunately, some people in the new age movement take to this type of mindset as well, but again, I don’t think they’re meant to speak for everyone. In the movement I strive to contribute to, everyone’s voice is valuable and no one perspective is the ‘right’ one.

What seems right to one seeker may seem wrong to another, and because of this, no one person will ever have all of the answers. In my opinion, we’re intended to not only see beyond our differences in belief, but to open up to others’ perspectives so we can gain the greatest and fullest picture possible.

I might express my opinion about a certain issue, only to be given another person’s perspective and realize that mine was slightly distorted. Therein lies the importance of working together to understand the truth, and most religions don’t preach working together or respecting different spiritual interpretations.

Personally, I wonder if the fact that we basically have created our own ‘new’ belief systems to go by is such a bad thing. Some seekers would claim that by fashioning new belief systems to follow or advocate, the new age movement is no better than religion, but belief systems are only ideas that are meant to get us thinking in a certain direction.

So what’s wrong with updating the ‘ideas’ that we’ve come to understand have been distorted by self-serving religious kings and leaders? I don’t think having or updating the ideas that are inherent in every belief system is necessarily a bad thing, but we need to be careful not to fix ourselves on the ideas we’ve updated, because they still aren’t complete.

I’ve said plenty of times that our perception won’t be completely undistorted until we re-reach Source, so until then, we’ll be endlessly and continuously updating our belief systems and the things we’ve come to see as ‘reality’.

Does this mean that the new belief systems we’ll fashion each time are just as distorted as the last? It doesn’t have to, but I think we should keep in mind that the new beliefs are still distorted compared to the ones we’ll have when our consciousness and perception are even purer.

This, in my opinion, is why we should be open to constantly expanding our beliefs.

So, is the new age movement just another form of religion? If it is, it’s an upgraded, expanded version of the distorted religious belief systems most of humanity has unconditionally followed, and it’s poised to continue expanding until we’re back with our maker and everything makes sense for the first time since we descended into these lower realms.

I’m happy to claim that we don’t know the truth yet. This new age belief system has been expanded from distorted religious beliefs, but when we’re in, say, the fifth dimension, we might find that the beliefs we have now are distorted compared to the understanding we’ll have then.

We’ll constantly expand our understanding of Source, and I think we should be careful not to root ourselves in any one belief system because none of them are complete. None of them will be complete until this wild lower-dimensional ride’s over, but however ‘distorted’ our beliefs could be now, I think they’re great alternatives to the even more distorted religions that preach fear, control, and division.

I don’t think there’s any value in abandoning or criticizing the new age movement since it could be seen as an expanded version of the religious movements that have been based in control and suppression, because this time, we’re trying to get it right.

This time, we’re advocating a movement that preaches individualism and free expression, and this is very, very important. Yes, some seekers have become very assured that their path; their perspective, is the right one, but even they are following the path that works for them and should perhaps be encouraged instead of criticized.

Instead of subtracting from the new age movement because of its expansion of religious beliefs and its allowance of free expression, which can cause some seekers to claim their perspective is the only right one or follow a path others think are distorted, I think we should encourage every seeker to do what works for them and never make them feel as if they’re ‘wrong’.

In truth, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – there’s only perception. To one seeker, following channeled messages from souls who profess to want to ‘save’ humanity (most channels discourage this type of thinking, though) is the absolute best path to take, while to another seeker, distancing themselves from such a mindset seems best.

Some seekers have stepped outside of all of it and are now giving their perspective on the seeming distortions underlying the new age movement, such as the ease in associating it with religion. In doing so, I think they should be careful not to subtract from the genuine truth and inspiration the people who’ve fallen into what they perceive to be ‘new age traps’ have gained.

Again, what’s distorted to one seeker may very well be perceived as truth to another, and none of us really have all the answers. We only have our perspectives and perceptions, and I think we should support each other’s respective interpretations of the truth – even though we don’t have to believe in them.

I don’t have to believe what you write or advocate to respect your belief, and the same goes for you.

There’s a lot of fun to be had in being the ‘loner’ who’s perspective is sharply different and just barely uncritical of the ‘popular’ beliefs, whether they’re religious, new age, or anything else, but in doing so, I think we should be careful not to alienate ourselves from seekers who’ve been genuinely uplifted by things we feel are distorted.

In the end, all that matters is love and acceptance – even acceptance of those whose opinions or views on reality or spirit are very different from our own. To come together and build a new world, we have to be willing to express ourselves and how we feel without worrying that our perspectives will be criticized by others who don’t agree with them.

This is my take on this subject, and I look forward to reading the perspectives of others who’ve brought it to the conscious public’s attention. Belief systems aren’t inherently bad or negative – it’s what we do with them that counts.